Rodney Alexander

Rodney Alexander

Rodney Alexander (born December 5, 1946 in Bienville , Bienville Parish , Louisiana ) is an American politician . From 2003 to 2013 he represented the state of Louisiana in the US House of Representatives , and since 2004 for the Republican Party . In August 2013 he announced that he would leave Congress by September of that year, citing the growing polarization and self-blockade of Washington politics as the reason.

Rodney Alexander first attended Jonesboro-Hodge High School in Jonesboro . He then studied at the Louisiana Technical College in Ruston . In the following years he worked in the insurance industry. Between 1964 and 1981 he also owned a construction company. From 1965 to 1971, Alexander was a member of the US Air Force Reserve .

Politically, Alexander was a member of the Democratic Party at the time . Between 1987 and 2002 he was a member of the Louisiana House of Representatives . There he was chairman of the Health and Welfare Committee . In the 2002 congressional election , he was elected by less than a thousand votes as a Democrat in the fifth constituency of Louisiana to the House of Representatives in Washington, DC , where he succeeded John Cooksey on January 3, 2003 . Since August 2004 he has been a Republican member after a party change, which drew sharp criticism from the Democrats in his home state, as he announced his change 30 minutes before the end of the deadline for candidates for the 2004 election and thus robbed the Democrats of the chance of a serious one Name challengers. His decision earned him a seat on the part of the Republicans on the influential investment committee in which he organized federal funds for Louisiana. Alexander won all five re-elections by a wide margin; most recently it was confirmed in the 2010 elections with 78.6 percent and in 2012 with 77.8 percent of the vote. Alexander presented himself as a "pro- business , pro-life , and pro- gun " candidate.

Alexander announced on August 6, 2013 that he would be stepping down from Congress to become Secretary of Veterans' Affairs in Louisiana that September , which will result in an extraordinary by-election for his seat in Congress . As possible successors in the Republican constituency were the Democrat Jamie Mayo (Mayor of Monroe ) and the Republican Senators of the state Mike Walsworth and Neil Riser and Alexander's chief of staff , Adam Terry; Alexander himself is listed as a candidate for governor of Louisiana in 2015. Surprisingly, Republican Vance McAllister was able to win the seat in the by-election .

Rodney Alexander is married to Nancy Sutton, with whom he has three grown children.

Web links

• Rodney Alexander in the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress (English)
• Web presence at the congress ( Memento from July 19, 2013 in the Internet Archive )

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Aaron Blake: Rep. Rodney Alexander Announces Retirement, Blaming Gridlock. In: The Washington Post , August 6, 2013.
2. ↑ ^{a b} Bruce Alpert: Rep. Rodney Alexander, Longest Serving La. House Member, Won't Seek Re-Election. In: The Times-Picayune , Greater New Orleans , August 6, 2013.
3. ↑ Democrats Bitter Over 'Cowardly' Alexander's Party Switch. In: The Economist , August 12, 2004.
4. ↑ ^{a b} Rodney Alexander. In: The Wall Street Journal , Election 2012 .
5. ↑ Lauren McGaughy: Rodney Alexander to Leave, Join Jindal Administration. Departure Will Trigger Special Election. In: The Times-Picayune , Greater New Orleans , August 7, 2013.